Sunday, December 22, 2024

NWSL Preview: Orlando Pride (4-8-1) at Washington Spirit (6-2-5)

Audi Field | Washington, District of Columbia – Saturday, July 1 at 7:00 PM ET

Players to watch:

In Washington’s match against Portland last Friday, forward Ashley Hatch scored her team’s first goal of the game, her third goal against the Thorns in all NWSL competitions. Hatch has scored nine goals in 18 appearances against Orlando, a figure that matches her career high against a single opponent (vs. Courage in 17 appearances in all competitions).

Orlando has three goal scorers in road games this season in forward Adriana, midfielder Mikayla Cluff, and defender Haley McCutcheon, each with just one goal. The only team with fewer goal scorers in road games this season is Racing Louisville with two, but both have more than one goal apiece (Kirsten Davis, 2; Savannah DeMelo, 3).

Match facts: The Washington Spirit welcome the Orlando Pride to Audi Field on Saturday evening in the first of four games from 7:00 PM ET and on. The Spirit will look to come back from a loss that snapped a four-game unbeaten run in the league, while Orlando has won just one of its last five and will need a positive result to halt a two-game losing streak.

Washington are currently in 4th place, level with North Carolina and OL Reign on points (23) but behind the two on goal differential. Meanwhile, the Pride are in 10th place with 13 poitns from the same amount of games played.

The Spirit are unbeaten at home (W3 D3) and have yet to concede more than one goal in a home match this season, the only team yet to do so. In fact, only one NWSL team has finished a season without conceding multiple goals in a home game (Gotham FC in 2021).

Orlando has won just once on the road in nine league matches since September 2022 (D1 L7), the only road game in that time in which the Pride scored a goal. The eight road games where the Pride were held scoreless is the most in NWSL in that time, with Racing Louisville’s five such games being the next closest.

Washington lost to Orlando in May, 2-1, snapping a seven-game unbeaten streak against the Pride in league play since late August 2019 (W3 D4). The Spirit have just one longer unbeaten streak against a single opponent in club history, a 10-match run against then-Sky Blue from July 2016 to July 2019.

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